


The Long Day

by Huggle



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Angst, Barba in Danger, Barba’s Suits, But He Can Take Care Of Himself, Fluff, M/M, Protective Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr, Protective Moms, Sonny Still Worries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27154642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huggle/pseuds/Huggle
Summary: Every day in their lives has its ups and downs.  Today’s no different, but at least it ends right.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	The Long Day

It’s been a hell of a day. Started low, when Sonny gets woke in the middle of the night because a vulnerable kid goes missing and it’s all hands on deck, picks up when they find him absolutely fine.

Dips again because even happy endings mean paperwork and much as Sonny knows Olivia wants at least one of them (him) to be there with Barba when the verdict comes in on the Mulligan case, there’s no way any of them can just dump everything because the calls don’t stop, the victims keep coming through their doors.

And that’s why he isn’t there when Barba gets the justice their victim deserves. And why he isn’t there when that rapist, stalking, murdering POS Grant Brecker jumps the table to try and beat Barba to a pulp.

Benson reads the court officers the riot act later, Brecker should _never_ have been out of their hands for even a moment, but Sonny’s glad then that he taught Barba a few ways to defend himself.

He remembers Barba refusing, fighting him on it, just like when he insisted on teaching Barba to shoot. He’d never need it, Barba had said. Because he never planned to get into trouble when Sonny wasn’t there to arrest whoever was bothering him.

And he’d laughed, to try and break the tension, because they were about to get in one hell of a fight over it.

But that was before the courthouse steps, before the elevator, before somebody knocked at the door when Sonny wasn’t there, trying to deliver a pizza Barba hadn’t ordered, and then Barba was shaken up enough to let Sonny show him what might keep him alive.

So the day goes back up when Sonny comes running onto the courtroom to find paramedics checking Barba over, a precautionary measure, then turning their attention to Brecker and his severely broken nose and dislocated fingers.

Sonny can’t remember being so proud and so furious in the same instant, even if each emotion is for a different person.

Now, though, his work day is done, and he knows Benson would have let him off early if she could, but it doesn’t matter.

He picks up some home made lasagne from his mom’s, her idea, when she heard what happened (it was all he could to talk her out of going right over and mothering Rafael until he could get home himself) and then he unlocks the door and goes in.

Rafael’s in the kitchen already, opening wine to breathe, and making a salad.

Sonny watches him. He’s stripped out of the suit, into a faded tee shirt and washed out jeans. And he’s barefoot.

His hair’s not slicked back like usual; a few strands are dangling just in front of his left eye, and Sonny’s never wanted him more.

Those suits...yeah, he’s hot in them, hell, he’s hot in everything, but they’re like his armour. He puts them on and then he strides into the courtroom like he’s going into battle and everybody knows he’s coming out of it victorious (or if not, it isn’t for the want of trying).

Sonny loves that side of him. But he loves this side, too, when the suit is in the laundry hamper, and Barba’s not ADA Barba, he’s just Rafael, he will be just Rafael until the early hours of tomorrow, when he slips out of Sonny’s arms to shower and get dressed again inn another three piece and fancy tie, and then it’s ADA Barba who’ll be back in court, or at the precinct, doing every damn thing he can to fight for the people others have hurt.

He puts the dish with the lasagne on the counter and slips his arms around Barba from behind.

“My mom says hi,” he murmurs, pressing a teasing kiss to just behind Barba’s ear. “And she says if you want, she’ll come beat that guy up as well.”

“I didn’t beat him up,” Barba says and Sonny can almost hear him rolling his eyes. “And my mom already offered.”

“Sure you didn’t,” he teases. “Gorgeous ADAs in sharp suits don’t beat people up. Do you think you putting him in the hospital might count as setting a precedent?”

Barba scoffs, twists around in his arms. “For what? The right to defend myself against a sore loser? Unless you mean letting both our moms loose on him? I’d never live it down.” 

He kisses Sonny, slow, easy, probably all either of them have the energy for after this day.

It’s enough. Barba’s okay, they have the rest of the evening together, and Sonny plans to hold him through the night. 

The day started shit, but it finishes well enough for him.


End file.
